Decker Hunting Terrier

The Decker Hunting Terrier is a newer dog breed, recently developed by a man named Milton Decker near Eugene, Oregon. While shopping for plant stock for his nursery in the 1970s, Decker came across a group of Terriers and Terrier mix dogs at one of the local whole stock gardening supply stores and was offered his pick of the pack. He chose one of the larger dogs, a calmer than average three-year-old weighing about thirty-two pounds. The dog, who Decker dubbed Henry, was a mix between a Smooth Haired Fox Terrier named Frosty Dew and a good ol’ farm dog by the name of Jock, and it didn’t take Henry’s new master long to learn to appreciate the dog’s natural hunting instincts which included tracking, jumping deer, and treeing. When he learned that Henry’s dam passed shortly after he acquired the canine, he decided to breed Henry, in order to preserve his hunting instincts and pleasing temperament. He began searching for high-quality dogs for Henry to breed with, mostly Rat Terriers, preferably larger specimens with a strong hunting instinct and a calm, pleasant temperament, as well as erect ears. A few Basenji dogs were also used in the foundation, giving the breed additional size and prey drive.

By the 1980s, the Decker strain was breeding true, and by 1993 Milton Decker was able to leave further development of the breed in the hands of other breeders such as Tim Brown, Arlene Fischer, Rosalie Riner, and many others, along with the help of the National Rat Terrier Association, who has been tracking the Decker bloodline for many years and have allowed the Decker line to be listed on their pedigrees since 1995.